Chapter 4: RUIN ME

Anastasia’s POV

I stepped outside, heels clicking softly as the black Maybach pulled up like a silent predator. I caught a glimpse of him,Nikolaus,on a call, his back turned.

“Hey,” I said, forcing the air from my lungs as I approached. He turned, and for the first time in years, I saw his face without a mask.

Sharp green eyes. Long lashes, those freaking lashes I used to envy. A snake tattoo his neck. A faint scar curved over his left brow

Well… that’s new.

Was this man handcrafted by God himself, or was I just being a dangerously horny bitch?

“Hello, little red,” he said, voice smooth but laced with something sinister. “You look beautiful tonight.”

He handed me a bouquet of red roses.

Tulips are my favorite.

I chuckled, accepting them. “You don’t strike me as a flower guy.”

“I’m not. I’m into rare things. Like you.” He said casually.

A smile crept onto my lips despite myself.

Atleast he is smooth with words.

“Let’s get going.”

~

The fair smelled like spun sugar and rebellion. He initially took us to a five star restaurant but I coaxed my way into us going to this fair. Less Gold is more fun.

“Shoot!” I cried, tossing a ball at a stacked pyramid of cans and missing completely.

He came up behind me, hands brushing my waist. His chest pressed lightly against my back.

“You’ve got terrible aim, princess,” he whispered.

I turned slightly and my breath immediately dropped. We were inches apart. Two more breaths and I’d kiss him,or kill him.

“Princesses don’t get to handle guns. Even fake ones,” I replied.

His hands moved to cover mine. “Eyes on the target. Breathe. Shoot.”

With his help, I hit it. A stuffed prize dropped with a thud.

“Yay!” I squealed, grabbing the toy. “Thanks, Nik.”

He gave me a look I couldn’t place,somewhere between amused and… affected.

“Come on.”

Soon we sat under the stars, a cotton blanket laid out beneath us, wine, fruits, and pastries spread across it. The city lights twinkled beneath the hillside.

“You like the view?” he asked, pouring me wine.

“Who wouldn’t? I’m a sucker for a good view. It’s beautiful.”

“Not as beautiful as you,” his eyes didn’t leave mine for a second.

I rolled my eyes, sipping. “That line’s older than this wine.”

He laughed softly. It was the most unguarded I’d seen him yet.

“Tell me about yourself, Skye.”

I hesitated. Time to wear my mask.

“There’s not much to tell,” I said, picking at a grape. “I love art, sweets. I play the piano. And I might have a thing for men with scars.”

That got a raised brow.

“That’s something,” he said, eyes locked on mine. “So, what are you doing in Italy? You don’t look like you’re from here.”

A pause.

“Just… on vacation,” I said casually, almost too casually.

But he saw right through me.

“There’s more, isn’t there, Skye?”

I let out a small laugh, one that didn’t reach my eyes. “Maybe… I’m running.”

“From who?”

I hesitated.

“Why do you care?” I asked softly. “You just met me.”

His eyes didn’t waver. “Because you interest me. So tell me, little red,who are you running from?”

A heavy silence wrapped around us.

“I don’t know,” I said finally. “Running from my life, I guess. From everything waiting for me back home. Trying to figure out who I am without all the noise.”

“Tell me more,” he urged, intrigued.

“Back home feels like a trap,” I whispered. “You can’t see fucking the bars, but they’re there. I’ve spent my entire life being trained,taught how to be the perfect daughter, and most importantly, the perfect wife. Like some damn doll in a glass box.”

I chuckled bitterly.

“I wasn’t allowed to go out. Every day was just another lesson on how to walk, talk, smile… how to be desirable. My father’s a dirty man, and his only mission in life has been grooming me to marry one of his powerful allies.”

“With a beauty like yours, I’m sure you have plenty suitors,” Nik said, a cold shift in his voice.

“I do,” I admitted with a bitter smile. “But none I want. I don’t want that life. And I sure as hell don’t want to go back home only to be handed off to some wife-beating psycho because it benefits my father’s empire.”

Tears filled my eyes. He slowly cupped my chin, his thumb gently wiping a tear that fell.

“I want to live,” I said. “I want to experience life. Find out who I really am, not the version my father created. That’s why I came here. Italy,where no one knows the so-called perfect daughter. I thought maybe, just maybe, I’d find something real. Someone… who could save me from the hell waiting for me back home.”

“Skye,” he whispered my name like it was a vow.

“I’m sorry,” I said quickly, pulling back. “I didn’t mean to bore you. Not like it matters… I leave tomorrow.”

“You don’t want to go,” he said, reading between the cracks.

“I don’t… but I don’t have a choice, Nik. I’m not getting the experience I came here for.”

“What experience?”

His brows lifted slightly, intrigued.

I hesitated. Then I smiled, but it was hollow. “An experience that ruins me.”

He raised an eyebrow.

“I don’t mean in a bad way,” I added with a soft laugh. “I mean something… powerful. Something that shakes the good girl out of me. That breaks all the rules I was born into. That awakens the darkest part of me,the part that could finally stand up to them.”

“I want to… be ruined,”

I leaned in then, close enough to taste the tension in the air. My gaze dropped to his lips for a heartbeat before meeting his eyes again.

“Don’t give me ideas…” he murmured, voice like velvet laced with warning.

I reached for a strawberry, bit into it, then slowly offered the rest to him. He took it without breaking eye contact, lips brushing my fingers,deliberate, intense.

Nikolaus sat back on one arm, watching me. “What if someone could save you?”

I turned to him, arching a brow. “You volunteering, Nikolaus?”

His name tasted dangerous on my tongue.

He didn’t smile. His eyes bore into mine with a seriousness that pulled the air from my lungs.

“Or maybe I don’t have to save you,” he said. “Maybe I just need to keep you.”

The way he said it made it sound like a promise. Or a threat. Maybe both.

I laughed, nervously. “That’s impossible.”

“I’m serious, Skye.”

“So am I. Unless you plan to kidnap me and hide me in some underground vault, nothing’s stopping my father from getting me back. He always gets what he wants.”

“and so do i, love”

he said, brushing a strand of hair behind my ear. His fingers lingered on my cheek.

Focus, Ana.

I cleared my throat, pulling away. “Enough about me. What about you? Got hobbies?”

He chuckled. “Hard to have any with the kind of work I do.”

“Let me guess, CEO of some billion-dollar empire?”

“Something like that.” He paused. “I work in the underworld.”

“Like ghost hunting?” I joked.

He smiled, a real one this time. “The mafia. Bratva.”

My breath hitched.

“What clan?”

“Krestoviki.”

Krestoviki.

The name coiled around my ribs like barbed wire. I’d heard it before, screamed it. Right before the gunshots.

“Oh” I breathed.

I stood abruptly, heart racing. “I… I have to go.”

He reached for me. “Are you afraid?”

“I’m not,” I swallowed. “I’m not afraid. I just… I made a mistake coming here. This whole thing was a mistake.”

“It wasn’t,” he said firmly, taking a step forward. “Skye, come here.”

“No.”

“Don’t run from me now.”

I took another step back. “Men like you… men like my father… you hurt, you kill,for greed, for power. You destroy lives and call it business.”

“You knew I was dangerous and powerful.”

“Dangerous, yes. But I thought you were… I don’t know. Powerful in a different way. Not this.” My voice cracked. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have come. I shouldn’t have wasted your time..”

I turned and fled before I could say anything else stupid. He didn’t follow me.

But something told me…

He wasn’t done with me yet.

Only when I was out of sight did I curse under my breath.

“Fuck.” I stopped in the middle of the path. “My purse. Acted too well, forgot my own damn bag.”

I laughed bitterly and decided to take a walk to cool off. The fair had stirred more in me than I cared to admit.

My thoughts were interrupted by the scent of fried cheese and breadcrumbs. My eyes landed on an old woman frying arancini on the street.

God, I used to love those.

I walked over, reached into my bra for the last few euros I had, and ordered one.

That’s when I felt it,eyes. Heavy and familiar.

Scar.

He was following me again.

I didn’t flinch. Didn’t look. Just played dumb and took my time.

But the moment I turned into a quieter street, I picked up my pace, darting toward a side alley.

I didn’t make it far.

A black SUV screeched around the corner, tires cutting the air like blades. Two men in black suits spilled out like shadows. One grabbed my arm, the other clamped a gloved hand over my mouth before I could scream.

I kicked. Not too hard though. If I wasn’t pretending these fools had totally nothing on me.

A needle jabbed into my neck.

Everything spun. The world folded in on itself like paper burning from the edges.

Sweet dreams, i guess.